


Chicago Search

by WPAdmirer



Series: Chicago Stories I [21]
Category: ER, X-Files - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-21
Updated: 2011-02-21
Packaged: 2017-10-15 20:05:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/164488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WPAdmirer/pseuds/WPAdmirer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Walter and Mulder look for John Carter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chicago Search

**Author's Note:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTES: I got tired of waiting for some good John Carter slash, and there's never enough Skinner fic to suit me.
> 
> DISCLAIMER: It's not the author's intention to infringe upon or profit from the characters created and owned by Chris Carter, 1013 Productions or the Fox Network, nor Warner Brothers and NBC. Skinner and Carter were borrowed temporarily and returned almost immediately. Mulder is only visiting.
> 
> SPECIAL THANKS: To KiMeriKal and Crysothemis for beta reading and friendship.

John Carter had been missing seventy-two hours. For the first time in fifteen years Walter had applied for and been given emergency personal leave. He don't know what lies Mulder and Scully might have told, but they were with him, working around the clock.

Mulder found out about a place, an abandoned power plant just outside Arlington. Matheson knew something about it, knew that Krycek had used the place in the past. When they got there it was empty, but there were signs of both cars and some kind of truck. They found abandoned food, some drugs, and blood. There had been blood on the floor around a concrete post. Scully sampled it, but Walter hadn't had the courage to ask her for confirmation. He don't really need confirmation. He was sure that it was John's.

The three paranoid freaks that made Mulder look normal had gotten involved. Walter wondered if it meant that the next issue of their publication will include an expose on the homosexual love nest of a former Assistant Director of the F.B.I. He surprised himself with the "former," but knew it was true. If they found John Carter alive he was going to quit. He would never endanger John Carter again.

He felt like he should have done this before. Before Sharon. Before he was shot. Before Mulder and Scully got so deep into this mire that neither of them was likely to come out alive.

If he'd gotten out years ago, when he'd first realized how dirty it was all getting, they'd both be out of the bureau now. They'd both have other lives. Well, Scully would. He couldn't imagine what Mulder would have. He was a little afraid to think of that.

"Sir?"

Mulder looked tired. In leather jacket, t-shirt and jeans, he wasn't the usually dapper field agent. He was just a very tired man. He dropped into the chair next to Walter at the dining room table.

"The tire tracks were an ambulance. We found it."

For the first time in two days Walter felt hope. The constriction in his chest lessened just a little.

"A man matching Krycek's description identified himself as a federal agent. Apparently he still has his old ID on him. He got an ambulance to take a badly beaten man to a hospital in Arlington. Twenty-four hours later he moved him to a private nursing facility. Scully's checking on his condition at release, but it appears he was stable."

"Thank God." Walter leaned back in his chair, feeling his back and neck crack with the movement. He had no idea how long he'd been sitting, poring over what little information they'd been able to gather.

"Then there's good news and there's bad news."

"Bad news first."

"He didn't go to the nursing facility he told the hospital he was going to."

"Of course."

"But Frohike thinks he's found the ambulance crew he used. Two guys who work for a private company in Arlington made large deposits into their banks yesterday. And it wasn't pay day."

Walter felt himself smiling. "Krycek's getting sloppy."

"I think he's working alone."

Now that was an interesting piece of information, Walter thought. It would explain a lot of things. If Krycek was on his own, what personal agenda was he trying to further? And how, Skinner wondered, did that relate to him and to the taking of John Carter?

"Want to come talk to these guys with me?"

"Oh, yeah."

The drive out to Arlington seemed to take forever, even though it was less than twenty minutes. Both of the men were on duty, and a simple flash of both badges was enough to convince the supervisor to let Mulder and Walter talk to them.

The men were young and big. Both white, dark-haired. Walter took in the general descriptions as Mulder began the questioning. One of the men, Ben Moore, was aggressive. The other man, Chris Walker, quiet.

"You picked up a patient at General yesterday morning. He was in the custody of a federal agent. We need to know where you took that patient."

Ben Moore stood up. "I don't have to talk to you. He's a fed, you're a fed. Talk to him." Moore started to step toward the door and Mulder stepped in front of him. "The man is a former federal agent. His identification was no longer valid. The man in his custody has been kidnapped. Unless you want to be considered an accessory, I suggest that you tell us where you took him."

Moore was a good two inches taller than Mulder. He drew himself up to his full height and leaned toward Mulder. "I don't know that you're a real fed." Moore put one hand against Mulder's chest and pushed him away. Then he again started for the door.

Walter had the man pinned against the wall before he even realized he was moving. Moore's blue eyes went wide with surprise and more than a little fear. Walter shoved his face in front of Moore's until they were almost nose to nose. He spoke through clenched teeth. It was taking every ounce of control he could muster to keep from beating the man's head through the wall behind him.

"You talk to me now or you go out of here on a stretcher. I don't give a shit about the money he paid you. But if I don't find John Carter, and find him fast, I will be happy to take my frustration out on you. Do you understand me?"

"It was a house just outside of town. Nice place. 2938 Lee Lane."

Walter turned and looked at Chris Walker. "The agent was with him?"

Chris nodded. Walter took his hands off Moore and he moved away quickly, standing near the door, but not quite daring to leave. "There was a nurse. Male nurse. But I think it was just the two of them and the patient," Chris continued.

Walter nodded. "Thank you." Then he left the room, stalking out to the car, leaving Mulder to chase after him. It wasn't until he got to the car that he realized Mulder had the keys. Walter waited impatiently for him to get there and open the doors.

"I'll call Scully and the Gunmen. We'll need back-up."

"Fuck back-up."

Mulder flipped the switch and locked the door of the car again. Walter pulled on the handle. "Open the fucking door, Mulder."

"No. Not until we get something clear. You and I are not going in there alone. John is injured. We know that. We hit the front door, Krycek goes out the back, after he kills John."

Walter felt the fury boiling inside him. He slammed his fist against the roof of the car, denting the metal. Mulder didn't flinch. "We go now."

Mulder shook his head. "Not without back-up."

Walter felt like he could murder an entire army to get to John Carter, to protect him from further harm. The idea of waiting even a few minutes made him feel insane. He turned and walked away from the car a few steps.

Fury narrowed Walter's vision down to just a few feet in front of him. He turned, suddenly, running toward the car, hearing a sound somewhere in his head that sounded like a roar. He distantly saw Mulder backing away from the car as he hit the passenger window and door with his body. The window cracked, the metal of the door buckled under his weight.. He stepped back and kicked in the window. Then he reached in and unlocked the door, swept the glass from the passenger seat and got into the car.

Mulder stood outside for a moment. Then he took out his cell phone and called Scully. Walter could barely hear him.

"Yeah, that's the address, Scully. Get there as quick as you can. We're headed there now. You're my back-up Scully. Yeah. I'll try."

Mulder got into the car quietly. "She'll meet us there."

Walter nodded. He couldn't form words at the moment. All he could do was feel the pounding of the blood in his head and the pounding of his heart in his chest. John Carter would be alive. He would be all right. He would…he had to be.

Mulder started the car and they pulled away.


End file.
